Saudi Arabia requested dispute consultations at the World Trade Organization for the first time since joining the multilateral body, over the European Union's antidumping duties on mono-ethylene glycol imports from the kingdom, the WTO said Aug. 19. Saudi Arabia said the duties, imposed June 10, are inconsistent with the WTO's Antidumping Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994. “Mono-ethylene glycol is a liquid used in the production of polyester fibres and film, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins and engine coolants,” the WTO said.

Japan requested a dispute resolution panel at the World Trade Organization regarding China's antidumping duties on stainless steel products from Japan, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Aug. 19. China imposed the duties in July 2019 on stainless steel goods from Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and the European Union on the grounds that the Chinese domestic industry was being injured by foreign exports. In particular, Japan is challenging the duties on stainless steel slabs, hot-rolled stainless steel sheets (cut sheets and plates) and hot-rolled stainless steel coils. The value of stainless steel exports from Japan to China is worth around $630 million, METI said.

Canada and Argentina recently announced antidumping and countervailing duty decisions on certain products from mainland China, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Aug. 10. Canada issued final affirmative AD/CVD decisions on upholstered domestic seating. Argentina renewed its AD duty order on mainland Chinese electrical connection terminals for cable diameters of up to 35 mm2. Canada also is seeking comments from interested parties by Aug. 31 on whether it should initiate an expiry review of the AD and CV duty orders on mainland Chinese flat welded large diameter carbon and alloy steel line pipe with an outside diameter greater than 24 inches (609.6 mm) and less than or equal to 60 inches (1,524 mm).

Japan's Ministry of Finance extended antidumping duties on potassium hydroxide from South Korea and China to Aug. 12, 2026, it said in an Aug. 10 notice. The ministry determined that the expiration of the duties would have resulted in injury to the domestic potassium hydroxide industry, resulting in the extension of the duties, which were set to expire Aug. 8. The duties were originally implemented in 2016 and exclude hydroxide from Hong Kong and Macao. The dumping margin sits at 49.5% for potassium hydroxide from South Korea and at 73.7% for the Chinese goods.

The United Kingdom removed the antidumping duty on welded tubes and pipes from Russia as part of changes made to the duties in two trade remedies notices published Aug. 9. The changes also varied the AD duties on the subject goods from Belarus and China, in line with the Trade Remedies Authority's recommendations on the duties. The new rates of the AD duties applicable to the net, free-at-the-frontier price before other import duties of welded tubes and pipes is 38.1% from Belarus and 90.6% from China. However, neither of these is the actual dumping rate, since the U.K. accompanied this change with a partial suspension of the AD duties on welded tubes and pipes from Belarus to avoid double trade barriers. The payable duty rate on the covered goods from Belarus is 13.1%. The suspension does not cover Chinese products that were already granted an exception to the tariff-rate quota on steel goods.

The European Commission in an Aug. 6 notice announced the impending expiration of antidumping duty measures on certain lightweight thermal paper from South Korea, unless a review of the duties is initiated. European Union manufacturers can submit a written request for a review up to three months before the duty's May 4, 2022, expiration date.

The European Commission will kick off a partial interim review of the antidumping duties on steel ropes and cables from China, extended to imports from South Korea, whether declared as from South Korea or not, the commission said Aug. 5. The EC initiated the review and the scope will be limited to the duty exceptions granted to Young Heung Iron & Steel. “There is sufficient evidence that the circumstances on the basis of which the exemption was granted to Young Heung have significantly changed and that these changes are of a lasting nature,” the commission said. Young Heung changed its name to Youngwire, and in so doing, also underwent “important reorganisation, including through the acquisition of the assets of another Korean exporter benefitting from the exception, Dae Heung Industrial Co. Ltd.” These changes could affect the exemption offered to Young Heung.

The European Commission amended a countervailing duty order on rainbow trout imports from Turkey on Aug. 3, finding that an exporter with an individual CVD rate could still receive this rate following a name change. BAFA Su Urunleri Yavru Uretim Merkezi Sanayi Ticaret AS, an exporter with a 1.5% individual CVD rate, told the commission that after combining with its parent company, it changed its name to Kilic Deniz Urunleri Uretimi Ihracat Ithalat ve Ticaret A.S. The commission found the name change to be properly registered, keeping the 1.5% rate for Kilic.

All Indian exporters with scrips under the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies scheme for shipping bills up to March 31, 2020, should upload their Electronic Bank Realization Certificates in the Directorate General of Foreign Trade's online “portal by their AD banks” by Sept. 15, the agency said in an Aug. 4 notice. Many pre-March 31, 2020, shipping bills with Let Export Orders do not have their corresponding e-BRCs uploaded, prompting the notice from the DGFT.

The European Commission began a review of existing antidumping duties on certain cold-rolled flat steel products from China and Russia, an Aug. 3 notice in the Official Journal of the European Union said. Eurofer requested the review following the publication of the expiration notice for the duties. The commission will decide if an extension of the duties is necessary to further protect the European steel industry, the notice said. The period under investigation is July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021. The covered goods are “flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, or other alloy steel but excluding of stainless steel, of all widths, cold-rolled (cold-reduced), not clad, plated or coated and not further worked than cold-rolled (cold-reduced),” with a number of notable exceptions including flat-rolled products of other alloy steel, of all widths, of silicon-electrical steel.